Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-17

the rest" asd he leaned back in his chair and
laughed softly
"Wel, Meinheer Coetzee, what is it, All,
know; the prisoners. Well, what did you
dol"
Hans told his story, and was rambling on
when the general cut him short
$50 cousin, so! You talk like an OK wagon
rumble and creak and jolt, devil of
noise and turning Of wheels, but very little
progress They will give up the twelve men
for our four, will theyi Well, that is about
a fair proportion. No. it is not, though; four
Beers are better than twelve Englishmen any
day-ay, better than fortyl" and he laughed
again. well, the men shall be sent in as
you arranged; they will help to eat up their
last biscuits. Good day, cousin. Stop,
though; one word before you go. l have
heard about you at times, cousin l have
heard it said that you cannot be trusted.
Now, l don't know il that is so. l don't
believe it myself. Only, listen if it should
be so, and l should find you out, by God
l will have you cut into rimpis with
afterox sjambocks, and then shoot you and
send in your carcass as present to the Eng
lish," and as he said it he leaned forward and
brought down his fist upon the deal table
with bang that produced most unpleasant
q
CLEAN of sudden ferocty flickered in the
small eyes, very discomforting for timd
man to behold, however innocent he knew
himself 70 he.
81 swcar"- he began to babble.
Swear not at all, cousin; you are an elder
of the church. There is no need to, besides. |
told you did not believe it of you; only l
have had one or two cases of this sort of thing
lately. No, never mind who they WERE You
will not meet them about again. Good day,
cousin, good day Forget not to thank the
Almighty God for our glorious victories. He
will expect it from an elder of the church"
Poor Hans departed crestfallen, feeling
that the days of him who tries, however skill
fully ana lmpartialy, to sit upon two stools
at once are not happy days, and sometimes
threaten to be short ones. And supposing
that the Englishmen should win after alias
IN his heart he hoped they might-how should
he then prove that he had hoped itl The
general watched him waddle through the
door from under his pent brows, a half
humorous half menacing expression on his
face.
"a wndbag; coward; man without n
heart for good or for evil Bah nephew, that
is Hans Coetzee. have known him for years.
Well, let him go. lie would sell us if he
could, but have frightened him now, and,
what is more if | see reason lie shall find
never bark unless | mean to bite. Well,
enough of him. Let me see, have l thanked
you yet for your share in Maiuba! Ali that
was glorious victoryl How many were
there of you when you started up the noun
tain"
Eighty men,"
"And how many at the endl"
zone hundred and seventy-perhaps a few
moren
"And how many of you were hit"
"Three-one killed, two wounded, and n
few scratched"
Wonderful, wonderful! 1t was a brave
deed, and because it was so brave it was sue
cessful. He must have been mad, that Eng
lish general. Who shot him!"
"Breytenbach, Colley held up a white
handkerchief in his hand, and Breytenbach
fired, and down went the general all of II
heap, and then they all ran heller skcltcr down
the hill. Yes, it was wonderful thing
They could have beat us back with their left
hand. That is what comes of having a right
eous cause, uncle
Tue general smiled grimly. THAT is what
comes of having men who can shoot, and who
understand the country, and are not afraid.
Well, it is done, and well done. The stars in
their courses have fought for us, Frank Null
Ter, and SO far we have conquered. But how
is it to end. You are no fool: tell me, how
will it end
Frank Muller rose and walked twice up and
down the room before he answered. ".Shall
tell youi" ne asked, and then, without wait
ing for an answer, went on: 1T will end in
our getting the country back. That is what
this armistice means. There are thousands
of rooibaatjes there at the Mex; they cannot
therefore be waiting for soldiers. They are
waiting for an opportunity to yield, uncle,
We shall get the country back, and you will
be president of the republic"
The old man took a pull at his pipe. "You
have "A long head, Frank, and it has not run
away with you. The English government is
going to give in. The stars in their courses
continue to fight for us. The English gov
eminent is as mad as its officers. They will
give ill., But it means more than that, Frank
l will tell you what itmeans. 1t means
and again he let his heavy hand fall upon the
deal table-"the triumph of the Boer through
out South Africa. BAIL Burgers was not
such fool after all when he talked of his
great Dutch republic l have been twice to
England now, and know the Englishman.
/ could measure him for his veldtschoens
NSHpeSl. he hllONS HOlnlup-nOunlllS. lie
understands his shop, he is buried in his shop,
and can think Of nothing else. Sometimes he
goes away and starts his shop in other places,
ana bures himself in it, and makes it big
shop, because he understands shops. But it is
all a question of shops, and if the shops
abroad interfere with the shops at home, or if
10 is thought that they do, which comes to the
same thing then the shops at home put an
end to the shops abroad. Bali they talk n
great deal there in England, but, at the bot
tom of it, it is shop, shop, shop. They talk of
honor, and patriotism too but they both give
way to the shop. And l tell you this, Franl;
Muller: it is the shop that has made the Eng
lish, and it is the shop that will destroy them.
Well, so be it, We shall have our slice
Africa for the Africanders. The Transvaal
for the Transvaalers first, then the rest.
Shepstone was a clever man; lie would have
made it all into an English shop, with the
black men for shop boys. We have changed
all that, but we ought to be grateful to Shep-
stone The English have paid our debts, they
have eaten up the Zulus, who would other